Deals of the day - mergers and acquisitions

Reuters Staff

5 Min Read

Jan 30 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2100 GMT on Wednesday:

** Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi has raised his stake in Fraser and Neave Ltd (F&N) to more than 50 percent, turning his offer to buy the rest of the Singapore property and drinks conglomerate unconditional.

Thailand’s third-richest man now holds a near 51 percent stake in F&N through TCC Assets Ltd and Thai Beverage PCL after buying more shares in the open market, according to a stock market filing late on Wednesday.

** Dell Inc’s founder and chief executive may pay as much as $1 billion out of his personal fortune to assume control of the world’s No. 3 PC maker in a leveraged buyout, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

** Oil and gas producer Pioneer Natural Resources Co said it will sell 40 percent of its interest in the Wolfcamp shale field in Texas to China’s state-run Sinochem Group Co Ltd for $1.7 billion.

** Endo Health Solutions Inc has held talks in recent weeks with drugmakers potentially interested in buying the maker of pain relief medication, people familiar with the matter said.

The exploratory talks included parties such as Warner Chilcott Plc and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, according to the sources. Endo announced in December its longtime chief executive, David Holveck, would retire in 2013.

** Italy’s UniCredit said it had raised around 890 million euros ($1.21 billion) from the sale of a 9.1 percent stake in Poland’s No. 2 bank Pekao on Wednesday, confirming what sources had told Reuters.

** The share swap ratios in Atlantia’s planned merger with Gemina I, the holding company that controls Rome airport operator ADR, will be set after an updated plan by ADR has been assessed, two sources close to the situation said.

** Organix Hair Care, a maker of haircare products, is up for sale in a deal that could be worth $800 million or more, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

** Russian state technology firm Rusnano is planning to sell through a private placing of 10 percent of its shares between March and June, its chief executive Anatoly Chubais said in an interview with the Interfax news agency published on Wednesday.

** Avery Dennison Corp said it would sell its consumer and office supplies unit, which includes Avery labels and Hi-Liters markers, and its coated films business to Canada’s CCL Industries Inc for $500 million.

** Deutsche Post’s DHL is considering selling its “last-mile” delivery unit in the United States, a service used by retailers to deliver bulky products to consumers, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

** Citigroup Inc’s Brazilian unit plans to sell its Credicard consumer finance unit as part of an effort to focus business on the most profitable areas, Valor Econômico reported, without saying how it obtained the information.

** Royal Bank of Scotland is finally pulling the plug on its mergers and acquisitions unit after no white knight investor emerged to keep it afloat, two people familiar with the plan said.

** MetLife Inc, the biggest U.S. life insurer, said it was in talks with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) to buy the Spanish bank’s Chilean pension fund business.

** The departure of Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon is not an indication that Chesapeake Energy Corp is up for sale, according to an email sent to employees on Wednesday.

** Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc is considering making an offer for Life Technologies Corp, the biomedical laboratory equipment maker that is exploring a sale, three sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

** Dish Network Corp has decided against filing to block Sprint Nextel Corp’s proposed deal with Softbank Corp, at least for now, citing its ongoing negotiations with Clearwire Corp and uncertainty over that company’s ownership.

** Bahrain’s Al Salam Bank said it was in merger talks with an unnamed regional bank, almost a year after a tie-up with Bahrain Islamic Bank collapsed.

** Ark Therapeutics Group Plc said it had begun a formal sale process and appointed an adviser to evaluate strategic options after fund-raising talks collapsed.

** Telecoms operator Vimpelcom may sell its fixed-line retail broadband business in Russia to focus on higher-margin mobile business, two sources said.

A sale of the assets - with an estimated value of $1 billion according to Russian daily Vedomosti - would leave Vimpelcom’s Russian unit with a mobile business and, potentially, fixed-line corporate clients.